


The Mystery Secret Admirer

by Browneyesparker



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Riverdale, Romance, Valentine's Day, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-23 00:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17672882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: 13 days before the Valentine's Day dance, Betty starts to receive notes from a secret admirer. She's on a mission to find out if it's serious or if she's just a victim of an elaborate joke all while making sure the dance goes off without a hitch.Nominated for The Fifth Bughead Fan Fiction Awards.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @endlesswriter03 for beta-ing this!

 

**.**

**Chapter 1**

**_13 DAYS UNTIL THE VALENTINE’S DAY DANCE! GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!_ **

Betty sighed and threw her arm over her eyes as the Instagram reminder stared her in the face. She was on the committee and had been the one to commission the poster, she had scheduled the post instructing her classmates to buy tickets. But the reality was, she was really starting to hate February 14th.

It wasn’t the way it used to be when they were kids and the whole class would get Valentines. Now everybody was pairing off and she felt a little left out. She didn’t want to be the girl who refilled the punch bowl and made sure they were well-stocked on cool ranch Doritos. Good, dependable, _dateless_ Betty. She wouldn’t mind giving a helping hand.

Sure, Archie and Kevin would take turns asking her to dance. But it wasn’t the same thing as having a real date. . .

For a second, she wondered if she could get Jughead to go with her just as friends but he hated Valentine’s Day, he thought it was just the greeting card industry’s way of making more money off the unsuspecting public. She had almost memorized his speech by now.

Her alarm chirped and she sat up, turning it off. She was done wallowing in self-pity for the morning. She pushed thoughts about being dateless for the dance away and jumped out of bed, ready to face the day. There was a lot to do and feeling sorry for herself about something she couldn’t change wasn’t going to help anything.

**.**

She was sitting in class taking notes when Kevin waltzed in and interrupted the teacher, smiling charmingly as he held up a basket filled with shredded, pink paper.

“Candygrams,” he said in way of explanation.

Mrs. Ollinger sighed and rolled her eyes, putting her piece of chalk down. “Make it fast, Mr. Keller.”

Kevin nodded and cleared his throat, reading off a clipboard. “Veronica Lodge!” he said, causing the girl to squeal even though everybody knew who it was from. “Cheryl Blossom, Midge Klump. . .” the list went on and on, Betty started to tune him out, as she reread her notes to make sure they made sense.

“Betty!” Midge hissed, poking her in the back with her pencil.

“What?” Betty asked, startled a little bit.

“There’s one for you!” Midge told her.

Betty’s heart stopped beating for a second. _“Me?”_ she repeated.

“Miss Cooper, please come and get your candygram so we can get on with the class!” Mrs. Ollinger instructed.

Betty stood up and shook her head, going over all the people in her head who could have gotten her a candygram. It ranged from Reggie pranking her to Veronica feeling sorry for her being single again.

When she got back to her desk, she flipped over the construction paper heart to see if it had been signed but there weren’t any indicators who the Hershey Kisses were from. The only thing remarkable thing about it was an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote in handwriting that she didn’t recognize.

She sighed and stuck it in her notebook. She looked at Mrs. Ollinger and forced herself to focus on the rest of the class even though she had a million questions running through her mind. She wanted to launch an investigation immediately but she had to start decorations for the dance and be home in time to make dinner because it was her turn.

Immediately after the bell rang, she rushed out of the room and went to find Josie and Kevin. They were handing out the candygrams this year, so she was sure they would know who had sent her one. All she needed to do was get them to tell her who it was.

**.**

“Do you want to help me investigate my secret admirer?” Betty asked Jughead at lunch that day without fanfare as she sat down at their table.

Jughead opened a bag of sour cream and cheddar potato chips. “You want me to help investigate your secret admirer?” he repeated. “I don’t know Betts, I’m kind of busy with school and that big writing assignment you gave me for the Blue & Gold. Besides, isn’t half the fun of having a secret admirer the mystery of it all?”

“No!” Betty replied. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for somebody to be interested in me and now that somebody is, I don’t know who he is!”

“Aren’t you the one who heads up that whole candygram thing?” Jughead asked, taking a sip of his Coke. “I’m sure you could get a glimpse of the list if you wanted to, blow the lid off this whole thing.”

“I _am_ in charge,” Betty said, sighing. “But Kevin and Josie are refusing to tell me who it is.”

“Because your secret admirer requested to remain anon for now, boo!” Josie replied as she passed their table with Kevin in tow. “You’re the one who made up the rule the only time we were supposed to relinquish a name is if a recipient’s life was being threatened.”

Jughead shrugged. “You can’t break the rules. Especially when you’re the one who made them!”

“What rules are we talking about?” Veronica asked, sitting down.

“The candygram rules,” Betty replied as she took the lid off her container and poured low-fat dressing on her salad. “As you know, somebody sent me one today and they didn’t sign their name.”

“So, of course now Betty’s on a mission to find out exactly who this person is!” Kevin said.

“You like a good love story. You do realize you are taking away from the romance of it all, right?” Veronica told her.

“But this is Riverdale,” Betty reminded them. “It could very well turn into a Lifetime movie.”

“Oh sure. Candygrams: My Psycho Secret Admirer!” Kevin teased. “You have to realize that sometimes, a candygram is just a candygram—”

“It might not _just_ be a candygram. This person might really like her,” Jughead interjected, faltering slightly when he noticed everybody was looking at him. “What?”

Veronica leaned over and touched him on the forehead. “Are you feeling okay today? You’re slightly less cynical than usual.”

Jughead pulled away from her hand. “Oh stop it.”

Archie joined them then and gave Veronica a kiss on the cheek. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“We were just discussing Betty’s secret admirer,” Veronica filled him in.

Archie looked surprised. “Betty has a secret admirer?”

“When Kevin delivered candygrams in history today, there was one for her and I guess it didn’t have a name.”

Archie frowned and looked at Jughead. “But I thought that—”

“Did anybody catch American Idol?” Jughead asked, changing the subject.

Archie looked shocked and a little bit pleased. “Jughead, I didn’t know you watch American Idol!”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “He _doesn’t_ , Archiekins. You know he doesn’t watch American Idol, he’s just trying to change the subject, obviously.”

“Nothing gets past you, does it, Veronica?”

Betty sighed. “Okay, fine since nobody is going to help me find my secret admirer, does anybody want to come to my house after school and help me start on the decorations for the dance?”

“Gee, I’m sorry Betty but I have football practice!” Archie said through a mouthful of tuna fish.    

“I would if I could but I’ve got band practice,” Josie replied apologetically.

“I can do it!” Jughead offered after Veronica and Kevin both said they were busy too. He shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything important going on this afternoon and you always have the best snacks.”

Betty rolled her eyes affectionately and patted him on the hand. “You’re always thinking with your stomach, aren’t you?”

“Only because I’m a growing boy,” Jughead said jokingly.

“That excuse is only going to last for so long,” Josie informed him.

Jughead smirked. “I am going to use it as long as I possibly can.”

Betty’s secret admirer momentarily forgotten, the group spent the rest of their lunch hour in witty banter and good-natured teasing.

**.**

After school was done for the day, Betty and Jughead headed for Michaels to buy supplies for the decorations. At the store, Jughead was less than helpful, recommending they go with an accurate portrayal of the death of St. Valentine instead of the traditional hearts and roses.

Betty only half-paid attention to him while she debated between hot pink and gold glitter. Her mind wasn’t even really on that either, all she was thinking again was her note from her secret admirer.

It was killing her, leaving an investigation untouched. Especially since it involved somebody who liked her for the first time in her life.

“I like the silver,” Jughead interrupted her thoughts. “It’s more classy than the hot pink is. Unless you’re going to do an 80s theme.”

“That’s the prom theme,” Betty answered, smiling at him as she chucked the silver in the carriage. “Jughead, you don’t think somebody’s pranking me?”

Jughead picked up a serpentine green glitter and examined it. “I don’t think anybody’s pranking you. Not you, Betty. Why would they?”

Betty shrugged. “People are cruel, Juggie and the boys in our high school are particularly bad.”

“Come on Betts, I’m sure Kevin wouldn’t let somebody prank you. He cares about you way too much to let that happen. And if it does turn out somebody is pranking you, I’m going to beat them up.”

Betty smiled. “I’m sure you’ll watch while Sweet Pea and Fangs does it for you,” she teased.

Jughead put the glitter back on the shelf and slung his arm around her shoulder. “Okay. But I was serious about doing an accurate portrayal of the death of Saint Valentine. I could get the Serpent's tattoo artist to sketch a mural for you.”

“I think we should just skip it,” Betty said. “Come on Jughead, use that pretty little brain of yours to give me a better idea.”

“Why don’t we just go back to your house and bing-watch Law & Order: SVU? Eat some snacks, cut out some paper hearts and make garland from it. You have a theme, _Valentine’s Day_. Go with it.”

Betty pushed the cart down the aisle and for the second time that day, she debated whether or not she should just ask Jughead to take her to the dance. She didn’t have much hope for her so-called secret admirer, it seemed too good to be true.

She thought about asking him but she didn’t because being rejected by her best friend would be just as bad as her secret admirer being fake.

**TBC. . .**

**.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darknessaroundus, songbirdava, bugheadzxx, chrissuo1995, goodnightdodger, tinytaser, dsridiculousfangirl, marsbars21, lullamasen, Jessicia080, jandjsalmon, and Wldwmn. . . I am blown away. Thank you for your reviews.

**.**

**Chapter 2**

“Betty, honey, I have to go to Greendale and interview Zelada and Hilda Spellman about their new boutique. Do you want to come with me? I hate thinking about you here alone all day.” Alice said as she made veggie omelet.

Betty looked up from the to-do list she was making and shook her head. “I’ve got some things to do today. The dance is in 12 days, and I’m already so far behind on things that need to be done. Half of my committee bailed on me. If it weren’t for Jughead, I wouldn’t have gotten a dent in the decorations yesterday. Everybody thinks having a dance is a good idea until they have to put the work into it.”

“Don’t be afraid to remind people they committed to helping you honey, that’s why its called a _committee_.” Alice kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll see you when I get home.”

“I’ll order takeout for dinner,” Betty promised. “Love you.”

“Love you too, have a good day!” Alice replied, grabbing her keys and briefcase. “See you later.”

When Alice had left, Betty texted all the girls who had agreed to work with her on the dance. One right after the other, they all replied with an excuse. She rolled her eyes and messaged Jughead, asking if he wanted to come and be her sous chef for the day.

He answered _yes_ almost immediately, and asked if he was going to be able to sample whatever it was they were baking. She confirmed that he would be able to try everything they were making, then went to get ready for the day.

When she got downstairs, she put on one of her mother’s Madonna records and started to get all her baking ingredients for the cookies she was going to make. Once everything was laid out on the counter, there was a knock on the door. She went to answer it, and Jughead held out a bag of conversation heart M&Ms and a pink envelope.

“I found these on the steps when I got here,” he told her.

“Did you see anybody around?” Betty asked as she accepted them and let him inside.

“I’m afraid I didn’t,” Jughead replied. “I’m sorry, Betts.”

Betty sighed. “That’s okay Jug. I didn’t really expect you to see anyone, I was just kind of hoping. . .” she trailed off and took his jacket, hanging it in the hall closet. “Oh well. We have a lot of stuff to do today. I’m not going to waste time worrying about _who_ he is.”

“Or she,” Jughead added. “You never know.”

“Fine! I’m not going to worry about who he or _she_ is right now,” Betty amended. “I can’t believe everybody bailed on me again. Mom says I can’t be afraid to remind everybody that the committed to helping me.”

“Alice is right,” Jughead said as he followed her into the kitchen and took one of the frilly aprons she offered him.

“Wash your hands,” Betty instructed as he tied it around his waist.

Jughead rolled his eyes. “How many times have I cooked with you now?”

“How many times have I reminded you that you have to wash your hands?” Betty shot back as he went over to the sink and squirted a generous amount of black cherry hand soap onto his palms.

“Point taken,” Jughead conceded.

“Wash them well! It’s still cold and flu season!”

Jughead groaned and started to sing the ABC song loudly over _Ray Of Light_ just to get on her nerves. It was Betty’s turn to roll her eyes as she joined him and tried to elbow her way into cleaning her own hands. He playfully shoved her with his hip, causing her to retaliate by flicking some water in his face.

Jughead tried to get her back, but she ducked away from him, drying her hands on the bright pink towel with hearts embroidered on it. She tossed it to Jughead and started to scroll through recipes on her phone with her pinky.

“I should have never volunteered to make the cookies by myself,” Betty said mostly to herself.

“You could have ordered them at a bakery or something,” Jughead agreed. “But I don’t think anybody bakes quite well as you do.”

“You’re just trying to butter me up.”

“Is it working?”

Betty unwrapped a stick of butter and tossed it in her metal mixing bowl. “What are you trying to accomplish by buttering me up?”

“A lifelong supply of lemon meringue pie, all I can eat chocolate chip cookies. . . funfetti cake on my birthday.

Betty made a face at him. “Funfetti? Jughead, you’ve never eaten funfetti cake a day in your life. Could you start measuring out sugar, please?”

“Oh, I forgot I was here to help. How many cups of sugar does the recipe call for?”

“A lot, we have to make more than double the recipe. Gosh, I wish I had an industrial-sized mixer or that I had Miss Grundy if we could have used her bakery today.” Betty sighed. “Oh well, I have a lot on my mind. I can’t be expected to think of _everything_.”

“Saturday is one of Miss Grundy’s most busy days, there is no way she would let two kids underfoot to bake. Especially when you could have just ordered them from her in the first place and saved yourself a lot of trouble.”

“You don’t have to remind me. I think we’re going to be here all day.”

“I have all day for you,” Jughead said sincerely. “Unless you have other plans, like taking your secret admirer letters to a handwriting analyst.”

“Is there a handwriting analyst in Riverdale?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Jughead answered as he started to scoop out sugar. “But Sweet Pea is an expert signature forger.”

“I’ll remember that the next time I need to fake being sick and forge my mom’s signature.” she flicked on the switch and started to cream the butter and sugar together.

“I know you’re being sarcastic,” Jughead said.

“You really don’t think anyone is playing a prank on me?”

“I think. . . it might just be somebody who really likes you and doesn’t know how to say it aloud yet. I think. . . you need to keep an open mind and try to not think about it when you’re baking. You’re about to overbeat your sugar and butter.”

Betty stopped it sheepishly and sighed. “Alright, no more thinking about it today. You have to distract me, Juggie.”

“How do you propose I do that?” Jughead asked. “With my great impression of Madonna singing _Like A Virgin_?”

“I’d love to see you sing _Like A Virgin_ but I’m sure you don’t even know all the words.”

“JB went through a _Glee_ stage. Her favorite episode was the one where they covered Madonna songs, she listened to the album on Spotify so much, I thought I was going to lose my mind.”

Betty shook her head. “JB is much too cool to have ever gone through a _Glee_ stage. Unless it was really _you_ who went through one, and you just don’t want to admit it aloud to me because you’re too ashamed.”

 

“JB’s cool all of a sudden and _I’m_ not?” Jughead pretended to look offended. “Well, excuse you!”

 

Betty giggled and started to carefully measure flour into a bowl. “You’re only pretending to be cool, so you don’t lose cred with Sweet Pea and Fangs. But you’re hanging out with me on a Saturday, listening to old Madonna albums and baking. How cool can you really be? What’s JB doing today?”

“I see your point. But cool guys in a gang _can_ cook.”

“The Serpents are hardly a gang. You’re practically an afterschool Big Brother, Big Sister group. You organize toy drives and read Anne Of Green Gables to kids in the hospital.”

Jughead sighed. “You just wish you were as cool as me.”

Betty laughed out loud at that and shook her head, slowly adding the flour mixture to the sugar, butter, and eggs. “Whatever you say, Juggie. Could you do me a favor and change the music, I’m kind of tired of listening to Madonna right now.”

“You’re just going to make me wash my hands again,” Jughead grumbled as he went over to the stereo and went through Hal and Alice’s old CDs. “Your mom still can’t bring herself to get rid of your dad’s stuff, huh?”

“It hasn’t been that long since he died,” Betty answered as she scooped dough out and started to form it into bowls to wrap up in plastic.

“What do you want me to put on?” Jughead asked, changing the subject because Betty still wasn’t ready to talk about her dad’s death.

“I think there’s a set list that Josie asked me to approve.”

“The Pussycats are playing again this year?”

“Nah, Melody and Val aren’t going to be around that weekend. Josie’s just setting up a playlist for me. She wants me to listen to her suggestions and tell her if they’re okay, or if she should add anything to it, or take anything off.”

Jughead located the CD that Betty was talking about and put it into the stereo. The first track was predictably, _Crazy In Love_ by Beyonce.

“Pass!” Jughead said, pressing the skip button.

“We need dance songs,” Betty reminded him as a new song started to play, one that was perfect for slow dancing. “It is a dance, after all.”

“It’s not some tragic little nightclub.”

“And you can’t save everyone from what you think is poor taste in music,” Betty answered, turning around as she closed the refrigerator to find him right behind her. “Jughead, what are you doing?”

“Helping you test drive songs,” Jughead told her as he pulled her into his arms and started to sway with her.

“I didn’t think you were much for dancing.”

“I’m not.”

“Oh.”

Dancing in the middle of the kitchen with Jughead was enough to make Betty completely forget about her secret admirer.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, I did not forget about this story! I know it’s a bit late for Valentine’s Day as it was yesterday, but hopefully you’ll stick with me!
> 
> Until Next Time!

**Author's Note:**

> I am just going to leave this here and anxiously await your feedback. Just let me know what you think. I’m doing this really short and sweet if you like it.


End file.
